


It's easier to survive bein' a team

by rainbow_reindeer



Category: Bleach
Genre: 90 percent pure sarcasm, A little shippy, And then became Shinigami, Because it's Shinji talking, But just a little, But talented street kids, F/M, Humor, Lots of slang and abbreviations, More characters to be added in later chapters - Freeform, Mostly just a headcanon of how Shinji and Hiyori met each other, Rated "T" for language and Hiyori, Rukongai, Shinji's POV, Some Backstory, Street Kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-08-10 03:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7828705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow_reindeer/pseuds/rainbow_reindeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shinji and Hiyori didn't have an easy start in life. Nor a pleasant one. Living on the street in a far-off district of Rukongai needed lots of survival skills of different kinds. Shinji managed to get by with cons and stealing. For Hiyori, it was her strength and violent attitude which earned her a survival. But if they would join each other and start working as a team... life could possibly become easier for the both of them.<br/>Shinji's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The baldy and the little one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _\- You – I heard a sudden raspy voice from behind and immediately turned in this direction, fully prepared to run. I eyed the owner of the voice with huge amounts of suspicion. Ok, for starters, it surely wasn’t the guy who I tricked today. It was like, more of a girl. A short, dirty girl, who certainly didn’t look dangerous, although she seemingly tried hard to appear as such. Arms crossed, a huge frown on the face, voice deeper and darker than the hell itself. Girl, chill, you’ll need that._  
>   
>  Basically the first meeting of Shinji and Hiyori, enjoy ^^

It was way too easy.  
  
People of this district really were hella naïve. Which made it really strange that they were still alive, taking into account that in this district, where the law was almost non-existent, it could easily be expected that if someone seems like he’s trying to help ya, he’s just gonna trick ya.  
  
You couldn’t really trust anyone. But yeah, if people really followed this life motto, my survival odds would be really falling down. Good thing I knew how to make people trust me, even though they shouldn’t.  
  
They really shouldn’t.  
  
This day was like, basically, my whole lifetime livin’ on my own. Making people believe I wanted to help them. Gainin’ their trust so they let me near their houses (the richer ones) or poor imitations of housing (the majority), whatever. Then, stealing what I could and runnin’ far, far away. Having a bunch of new enemies, but also some food, clothes and other useful or just pretty-looking stuff. Easy as that, no hard feelings.  
  
Sure, sometimes there were those moments of consideration. Askin’ myself if I really wanna spend my life like that, feelin’ bad after stealing the last loaf of bread from some hungry-looking dude. Still, those were rare moments and they didn’t really matter. I could handle this, just not thinkin’ about it. After all, I needed to survive. It was all pragmatic, I didn’t have the right conditions to be a gentlemanly altruist. Like, not at all.  
  
The loud thumps and angry curses from behind me finally stopped, so I slowed down a bit. Fine, lost ‘em. Well, I was always too fast for, basically, everybody in the district. The years of running away from doom and justice were certainly paying off. Now it was time to look at what I managed to earn today with my hard, hard work. Some bread, dirty vegetables, and a few not-so-torn clothes, nice. The amount of this was going to make me a life for the next two or three days. I could just chill and…  
  
\- You – I heard a sudden raspy voice from behind and immediately turned in this direction, fully prepared to run. I eyed the owner of the voice with huge amounts of suspicion. Ok, for starters, it surely wasn’t the guy who I tricked today. It was like, more of a girl. A short, dirty girl, who certainly didn’t look dangerous, although she seemingly tried hard to appear as such. Arms crossed, a huge frown on the face, voice deeper and darker than the hell itself. Girl, chill, you’ll need that.  
  
\- What is it, little one? - I stretched out lazily. Maybe I stole something from her one time… I didn’t really remember but it would certainly justify the angry look. Anyways, she certainly wasn’t someone who could hurt me…  
  
…ok, maybe she was, I decided a few seconds later, lying on the ground and being continuously slapped in the face.  
  
\- WHO ARE YOU CALLING “LITTLE ONE”?! - she yelled, her eyes narrowed. – DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME YOU….YOU BALDY!  
  
I blinked in surprise in-between the slaps. What the actual fuck. That was the most ridiculous name she could possibly think of, takin’ into account that my hair was actually kind of…longer than hers. Well, I didn’t really bother to ever cut my hair, it looked better long. And then I got called a baldy. I surely sensed a strong deficiency of logic. But well, it wasn’t probably the right time to think about it when my precious face was gettin’ seriously damaged. I tried to catch her wrist but… she was hella strong, rather like a professional ass-kicker than like a shorty girl.  
  
\- WHAT DO YA WANT FROM ME?! – I finally yelled back, trying hard to dodge the slaps – LOOK, IF I TOOK ANYTHING YOURS I’LL MAKE UP FOR IT, OKAY?!  
  
She stopped and got up almost immediately, looking at me with the same dark expression. Wow, this worked quickly. This little lioness could be tamed after all.  
  
\- What did I steal from ya? - I asked reluctantly, massaging my poor ol’ jaw, while still sitting on the ground. Now, that was a really intense experience. I got beaten more than a hundred of times, firstly while being a slave, then on the street, but… at least the guys who did that always looked intimidating and surely weren’t little girls.  
  
\- I saw you trick this guy today – she frowned again. Okay, so either she knew the guy or she thought herself to be some kind of justice warrior, helping the poor and disadvantaged. Either way, I needed to get rid of her as fast as possible.  
  
\- Fine, I’ll return it – I sighed heavily. Well, I’ll have to find something else to eat for today. No chillin’ for you today, Shinji. Life ain’t easy, life is hard, just be sleazy ‘n’ keep your guard.  
The girl snorted, little fangs shown in her mouth.  
  
\- What’s so funny? - I wrinkled my nose.  
  
\- You dumbass – she laughed at me. Okay, now that was really getting’ annoying as fuck. – Return anything? You gone insane? I just want some of this stuff you stole for myself, ya know, ya look like a useful person to keep under command.  
  
Ohhhhh. So that was how it was. I grinned widely at her, putting all my malice and mischievousness in the grin.  
  
\- Really, darlin’? – I teased her in a hissing voice, preparing myself to run for my life if she would decide to beat me up again – Oh yeaaaah, I guess it would be REALLY great for ya… To have all stuff and just rely on someone else, yeah… Too bad I, ya know, really don’t appreciate bein’ commanded… But yeah, dream on – I thought for a moment and added – Little one.  
  
To my surprise, the girl frowned but didn’t do anything else. She didn’t slap me, hit me or anything. I probably would have managed to run away if she did, so… well, maybe it was the smartest thing for her to do.  
  
\- I can be useful for you as well – she stated calmly and seriously. It was weird… She kind of looked like a short-fuse type of person before… Maybe she was just keeping her calm to truly get something out of me. To make me side with her and then regret the consequences every time I’ll have to share stuff I manage to steal. Every time I’ll be beaten up. I really wasn’t that stupid. – I can protect you. Ya know, life on street is quite dangerous. And I’m good at fighting – well, that was a fair point. Actually, yeah, I experienced the dangers of the life on street alotta times. I always managed to either run away or talk my way out of everything though…  
  
Well, after all… It doesn’t really matter if I side with her or not, right? I was good at breaking promises and truces. Fairly good. Maybe I could even… trick her and take any food reserves she might have… or even this gross cloth she was wearing. It looked like it was pretty above her size, so maybe, just maybe it could work for me…  
  
\- Fine – I shrugged – But no commanding, it’ll be just partnership – I made my condition, managing to sound very serious and demanding. Yeah, I really couldn’t stand to follow orders. Not after I broke away from slavery. These weren’t exactly good memories.  
  
\- Call it whatever ya want – she shook my hand to seal the promise. Stupid one, like it could prevent me from breaking it. She probably saw my cold glance which accompanied the moment we shook hands, ‘cause she eyed me dangerously – And remember, I am NOT a nice girl you can trick and get away with it. – she hissed – Trick me and you’ll be dead, I’ll find ya anywhere, baldy.  
  
\- Actually, yeah – I scratched my head in confusion – What’s with the ‘baldy’ thingy? I dunno, I don’t think I look bald at all…  
  
\- It just sounds like a good insult, baldy.  
  
\- Ah, okay. Little one.  
  
\- YOU’RE SO DEAD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was it for the first chapter :D Hope you guys like my little headcanon of Shinji's and Hiyori's past. Basically, Shinji's smile and extreme suspiciousness always just screamed to me that he was once a con man. A guy not to be trusted at all. And Hiyori violence had to develop somewhere too, so why not on the street. They just fit into a far-off Rukongai district very, very well.  
>   
> The plans for this fanfiction are basically to write some more of their interactions in Rukongai, focus on how trust developed out of this initial enormous distrust and then move on to show you guys my headcanon on why and how they became Shinigami.  
>   
> And if I get some readers for this small fanfiction and maybe some kudos or comments I would certainly be very happy~ ^^


	2. Meaningless victim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _After a fair share of near-death experiences we went through together, trust stopped being an issue. She would now sometimes tell me stories of her ‘times and adventures’ during long and cold insomniac nights, from time to time she would even actually get some sleep, leaving the ‘guarding our belongings’ part to my supervision._

The girl’s name was Sarugaki Hiyori. She was livin’ on the street too and the thing she was probably best at was kicking peoples’ butts until they gave her what she wanted.

That was basically all info I managed to get from her in like, four hours of talkin’. In the process, my poor, poor ears had to deal with unreasonable amount of decibels, I was slapped 24 times and got hit in my poor stomach approximately 10 times. Okay, maybe much of this was my fault, I just couldn’t resist annoying her. It was just plain funny to drive her to the edge and see how she basically boils until it spills and she loses her shit in anger. Yeah, yeah, I had the weirdest sense of humor. And a risky one too.

Of course, there were some good things about that girl as well. In general, the first attempts at cooperation in the sublime profession of strippin’ fellows outta their food were quite successful. I had to admit, it was kinda easier to do it with her. I could forget about the lengthy and exhausting runs for my life, occurring every day after the carefully chosen victim discovered they were being fucked around with. Now, with her punches and kicks targeted at the self-styled Rukongai’s law officers, every chase was significantly slowed down. Or stopped at all.

Yet, no matter how successful it all would be, my original plan had to be carried out. The concept of actually forming a stable teamwork with someone, actually having to trust someone…it was plain ridiculous. Especially if it was to be with a person who obviously kept trying to have superiority in this relation. Well, I was gonna teach her a little lesson. Moral: no darling, you’re not superior. Not at all. Means: cunning, although this proved to be a little of a challenge even to me. She was a tough one, clearly she knew that she has to be wary around me. I felt her strongly focused, suspicious glare at my back like, all the time. It was definitely gonna take me some quality time until I would manage to gain her trust, and by simple and obvious extension, her life savings. Yet, for some reason, I felt it was totally worth it. It’d be a wonderful revenge for all the humiliation and beating. Sophisticated and stylish - Shinji style, which was always the best style. After all, she couldn’t stay alert at all times. Or could she?

\- Heavens, I’m absolutely dyiiing – I moaned, leaning against the nearest cold wall after the third ‘business’ action of the day. It wasn’t that exhausting but well, I was never the hard-working type. The lazy part of myself was already detecting excess effort over my daily dosage, the high time to stop this overabundance has come – Some rest would be nice, ya know. I had to do twice less when I worked just for myself- stabbing her with my elbow just for the sake of it, I quickly dodged the immediate and utterly predictable response of a punch. Aaaand I didn’t manage to dodge the second one.

\- Shaddap idiot- she snapped, pinning me to the dirty ground with her bare foot – Ya’ve been doin’ nothing to be tired, all day just babbling around with this huge mouth of yours, I can’t see yer right to moan. - her voice calmed down as she continued, taking her foot of me – But we’ve got enough for t’day. It’s gettin’ dark anyways. - as she shrugged, I immediately saw the opportunity. And I went for it.

\- Actually, where are we gonna sleep? – I wobbled while returning to the standing position and gently rubbing my severely aching cheek. This was the perfect occasion to try to get near her living place. We definitely needed to sleep somewhere, sleeping just on the street without even some poor imitation of housing was never a safe option. Especially with those whole newly acquired belongings, which we had to hide somewhere just to prevent some other thieves from stealing it. If she’d just be stupid enough to suggest goin’ to her place…

\- I always sleep on the street- she smirked and my internal bullshit detector alarm went off. She was a horrible liar; yet, the fact that she decided to keep me away from her house meant just one thing – namely, that she didn’t trust me yet. I just wasn’t convincing enough. Not yet at least. I shrugged her words off, not even pointing out her lie – it wasn’t worth it. Not yet.

\- So, we’re gonna expel someone from their house and take over or what? – I suggested lazily, flashing my trademark rape face- ‘Cause if we’re gonna do so, ya need to do it, ya know, my punches aren’t that persuasive and I doubt I can talk someone out of their house-

\- For the last time, stop fuckin’ moaning all the time, baldy – she growled, interrupting my sentence – Ya’ll talk us into someone’s house and then I’ll punch ‘em out of it. – I just grinned in response. What an easy plan. Yeah, again, teamwork with her wasn’t that bad.

\- Fine – I playfully stuck my tongue out, giggling quietly – Let’s do it.

***

The next few days were all the same. I was gettin’ used to Hiyori’s personality, each day I broke my record in the contest for annoying the shit out of her, each day she was eyeing me less and less suspiciously. I, on the other hand, observed her even more closely as she started to gradually lower her guards. After a fair share of near-death experiences we went through together, trust stopped being an issue. She would now sometimes tell me stories of her ‘times and adventures’ during long and cold insomniac nights, from time to time she would even actually get some sleep, leaving the ‘guarding our belongings’ part to my supervision. At such nights I could’ve just taken all of this and escape, yeah. I could. But that simply wouldn’t be enough or at least my greedy self craved more. I wished to strip her of everything that ever belonged to her. And it wasn’t even about any hatred I felt towards her. Actually, I kinda liked her despite the fact that she had arguably the worst single personality ever. And she probably felt the same ‘bout me. Nah, I didn’t hate ‘er. It was simply a compulsive, pragmatic point of view – if I’ve spent so much time working on getting her to trust me, at least I have to gain a good measure of her possessions from it. Now, wise people often say that it’s the stupidest thing one can do – to cling onto a task just because ya spent so much time doing it. Yeah, as I look back, I definitely agree, perhaps it’d be much more efficient if I’d stick just to robbing her from our daily belongings. Yet, I was waiting. Until finally, one day, my patience was rewarded.

\- Shinji- she spat out my name in this harsh, unpleasant voice of hers as I was sitting somewhere in an empty corner of the street, chillin’ and doin’ absolutely nothing. I rolled my eyes, fully prepared that right now she’ll demand I go do something useful, I’ll annoy her with a sarcastic remark and end up transforming into a disembodied smear smashed against the wall. Classic event outline 2.0. She must’ve interpreted my mimics super well since she commented on them at once – Nah, dickhead. It’s okay, ya can be lazy today, we collected enough stuff yesterday – with one gesture she calmed me down – I just wanna tell ya I’m goin’ for a while so that ya don’t freak out, ‘kay? – she kicked a pebble on the ground and turned around, ready to leave.

\- Whoa whoa- I stopped her, stretching myself lazily – Where are ya gonna get clothes without me?- I grinned, showing the full arsenal of my teeth and ran my fingers through my tangled, long hair – Ya know ya can’t do any successful action without me, ya can beat people up but first they need to tell someone the whereabouts of their stuff if ya wanna get anythin’ outta it- my grin turned into a proud smirk of a person knowing their high and absolutely indisputable value in the blink of the eye.

She turned around to face me and I saw she was actually laughing her ass off. Very, very hard.

\- Dumbass- she insulted me, hands on her hips – Ya seriously thought I don’t have my place?- my mind started to work really fast. Oh shit, holy shit, it was happening. Soon I’ll get to know her base, I’ll finally have my freedom and free stuff for two months of nice survival. Or even more. Yet, I kept my mimics in a surprised expression. Good acting was now the key. If she thought I was dumb, she had to keep thinking so; this made my task way easier. I dropped my jaw a little, raising an eyebrow. – I’m gonna get something nice from my reserves, it’s cold t’day and I don’t feel like having any stealin’ action right now either. Perhaps I’ll find something for ya too, I think I had some really large clothes in a dickhead style, just for you, baldy balderson- she laughed again, her little fangs showing off – Anyways, I’m goin’. Guard the stuff.- casually waving her hand, she soon disappeared in a nearby alley.

My mind was practically racing with thoughts. Okay, time to do some smartass analysis, motherfuckers. I should follow her – that was almost certain. For starters, it wasn’t abnormal that she decided to trust me now. After all, no longer than yesterday I basically saved her from being thrown outta a very-highly-situated window by a surprisingly aggressive guy we robbed. It was just natural that after something like that she wants to rest a little from our actions and also that she’ll trust me enough to tell me about her place. Even though she couldn’t be called dumb. So, the odds that it’s just a simple trick to check my fidelity were neglectable low. Secondly, I knew very well how to stalk people without being noticed. In fact, this was one of the skills I was much better at than she was, same as with cunning and people skills in general. Deciding it’s the best I can do, I packed all of our stuff to an old backpack I once stole and kept especially for this occasion, and I slipped into a dark, narrow alley she previously disappeared in.

Finding her was easy. The creepy alley was running forward for a long time without any crossroads and by the time it actually started branching out, I managed to see her blond pigtails far in the front as she entered some kind of a shed. A very well hidden, as I had to admit. So this was her place, the one I’ve been waiting to see for so long. It looked quite fancy, nicer than most provisional housings in the street. Nailed it. If it looked like that, I certainly could expect a good loot waitin’ to be found inside.

Some time later, I’ve seen her coming out of the shed and, after carefully camouflaging the entrance, returning to the same alley we came from. Okay. Now it was the time for me to shine. Finally, fucking finally. It was all I could think as I broke into the shed and started my desperate exploration. Hm. The disappointment hit hard; there was mostly nothing potentially valuable. A bag of rice and a couple of small clothes. Shit. This meant only that all my efforts were basically…for this. And yeah, let’s don’t forget the stuff I still had in the backpack. Come on, Shinji, focus on the task ahead, I kept telling myself. By that time Hiyori must’ve definitely noticed my disappearance, she would definitely arrive there in a few minutes in a burning rage. Squeezing the rice so that the bag would fit into the backpack, I started the evacuation phase. Just in time, as I heard quick footsteps and furious panting outside getting nearer. The Great Sarugaki Monster stormed in just when I managed to climb all the way up to a glassless window. Jeez, I’d never seen anyone looking so animalistic before. Like a bull maddened by a piece of red cloth, her nostrils were moving fast, the veins on her temples were pulsing, clearly visible even from the distance and I could almost hear growls coming outta her small throat. Even at the very moment, I was certain that view was gonna haunt me for some time in the worst nightmares. Still, flashing a shit-eating grin and making a heart with my hands in one last sarcastic remark I jumped outta the window just before she destroyed the wall of the shed. Dear life, was she dangerous. Seeing a whole fuckin’ wall collapse under her assault, I started to worry about my survival. Yet, no time was granted to elaborate on that. Dodging the falling planks I ran for my life. As usual.

\- I’LL FIND YA!!!!! – I heard the terrible screams from behind as my longer legs and years of training gave me the advantage of moving much faster – AND IF I DO, I’LL KILL YA!!!!!!!

I just laughed to myself, getting farther and farther away from her. Oh darling. Did you have any idea of how many dangerous people swore to blow my brains out? And somehow I was still alive and feeling at my best.

Or maybe not, I decided when I stopped for a rest, climbing onto a high 'n' nice lee roof I could hide on easily without being seen from below. Although throughout my whole life I was living in scarcity, for once this day going to sleep I actually felt something missing. Missing someone who’ll protect my ass at night actin’ as a guard, but also missing a certain harsh voice, certain stories, certain relation. The silence, loneliness... well, generally freedom was almost hurtful right now when I knew something else was possible. Now that I freed myself from it, I missed being a part of the team. Closin' my eyes, I almost saw her under my eyelids. Jeez, how weird was that. After all, it was no more than a week; yet, I found myself quite attached to the girl. And certainly addicted to the adrenaline of pissing off the lioness and seeing how she'll fight back. Slightly masochistic tendencies alert? Maybe, maybe.

I was quick to persuade myself not to think about it though. The single best medicine for any weird, conflicting emotions and moral remorse, namely the ignorance, worked quite well, as always. Rationally, my quest was a total success, although the loot always could’ve been better.

Another meaningless victim turned into another enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's the second chapter! ^^ Big thanks to everyone reading this thing, hope y'all enjoy <3 I'd love to receive some comments and constructive criticism or remarks from anyone, so if you'd like to tell me sth about this work, don't hesitate to comment, I love the feedback :D


	3. The biggest mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _What the hell. She shouldn't be running. Not her, not the asskicker girl I knew. What kind of danger was SHE afraid of? Who could’ve injured someone as strong as her? She was able to send me flyin’ to the nearby wall without even tiring herself in the process. And it wasn’t just about me- yeah, I was a lil’ scrawny – but also about loads of other grown, built-up men. Come on. She wasn’t the sort of a damsel in distress, even I resembled this type to a much greater extent. What kind of badass could have possibly kicked the butt of the buttkicker, make HER run away?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaay, I finally made myself write the next chapter, another battle with laziness ends in a victoryy! ^^  
> Fun fact: I wrote this chapter while spending a night at a train station in freezing temperatures because my bus didn't arrive during an international trip. Keep that in mind, it might have some logical and grammar mistakes, although I tried to edit :p  
> Thanks for reading, love y'all! ^^  
> xoxo

With the first sun rays piercing through my closed eyelids, I shivered in the morning cold. My desperate attempts of warming myself a little in a pile of stolen clothes weren’t successful anymore. Holy shit. I was basically freezing, forced to get up and start walkin’ around at once. Okay, I utterly detested this time of the year with the full power of my heart. Assumin’ I had one, ‘f course. It was gettin’ real cold, soon I wouldn’t be able to get by sleeping on roofs anymore. Welp, the time has come to get this sexy ass to work and find some warm hideout. Asap.  
  
It was already two weeks since the sham with Hiyori The Asskicker Girl and I was finally gettin’ used to livin’ on my own again. I’ve seen her passin’ by quite a few times, but she clearly limited her searchin’ quest to near the ground. Shame on her, she had no chances findin’ me like that. Observing her pathetic attempts from above made me so fuckin’ proud of myself. And, surprisingly, so disappointed. That wasn’t supposed to be so easy, come ooon… Anyways. Who’d complain about winning a life?  
  
It was gonna to be harder to hide from her while settlin’ in some actual building for the colder days, for sure. Well. As far as I knew, unfortunately, there weren’t any top-of-the-roof buildings currently available in Rukongai, perhaps due to the simple fact that no one's ever thought of buildin’ a house on a roof. Obvious lack of imagination. C’me on everyone, seriously, why not. So much unused space, so inefficient. I would've planned it betta.  
  
My serious city planning contemplation was brought to a sudden end as I got distracted by blonde pigtails coming into vision on the street below. She was there again. Something inside me twitched and I definitely preferred to think it was just nervousness - 'cause she might have actually found me this time, right? Crawlin’ to the edge of the roof, I didn’t notice at first that there was something peculiar ‘bout her movements, but lookin’ more closely…  
  
She was actually limping heavily, panting hard and…she left a trace of fresh blood behind as she proceeded forward in a great hurry.  
  
What the hell. She shouldn't be running. Not her, not the asskicker girl I knew. What kind of danger was SHE afraid of? Who could’ve injured someone as strong as her? She was able to send me flyin’ to the nearby wall without even tiring herself in the process. And it wasn’t just about me- yeah, I was a lil’ scrawny – but also about loads of other grown, built-up men. Come on. She wasn’t the sort of a damsel in distress, even I resembled this type to a much greater extent. What kind of badass could have possibly kicked the butt of the buttkicker, make HER run away?  
  
I crawled near the edge of the roof and peeked a little, eyes wide open with pure curiosity.  
  
The chaser was slowly appearin' in the visible distance, neat robe flowing around him kinda like black wings of a crow, somethin' with the shape of katana in their hand...  
  
Oh shit.  
  
I have seen such guys only twice in my lifetime. They never bothered themselves with this part of Rukongai, just fulfillin' the compulsory obligation of showing up once in a while 'n' leaving as fast as they could, before they start feelin' bad about living in luxury while masses around are literally starving. They felt almost like a part of a different world, a world you heard about but never had the chance to see it. A world of dreams comin' true...  
  
Seireitei.  
  
Holy shit, Hiyori. What have you done. What have ya fuckin' done to have a real fuckin' SHINIGAMI chasing after ya. The rhetorical questions my oh so deeply philosophical mind kept posin' were actually pretty answerable just takin' to consideration that it was, after all, Hiyori. I gazed down again and shook my head in disbelief. Seriously. The short temper of this girl was gonna end her up gettin' slashed eventually. Maybe even in a moment.  
  
Shinigami's were undefeatable for Rukongai people. Almost God-level compared to us. God? Shinigami? Heh, this definitely wasn't a random correlation. Anyways. If she was gonna die it just meant I wouldn't have to hide anymore... Right?  
  
I leaned down some more from the roof, only by a miracle still not fallin' off. The Asskicker Girl's face was flushed from the run, clearly at her limit 'n' about to black out at any moment. Shiiiit. The Shinigami dude was gonna get her very, very soon. And I'd have to look at her immediate execution on spot. Sarugaki Hiyori, the short-tempered gurl from Rukongai no one would even remember when she'd be killed by someone claiming they're our masters just because they have some power we lack. With her only crime bein' her... personality.  
  
I opened my mouth aaand then closed it. SHINJI. Stay strong. You'd seen injustice. This world is just like that. Just fuck the system deep in the ass while caring just about yerself, otherwise it'll for sure fuck you. That's just logical natural selection. Now turn around and get to find yer hideout.  
  
...  
  
Slowly, I opened my mouth again.  
  
\- HIYORIII!!! - I made the biggest mistake of my life in exactly one word combined with wild frantic waving. Wow. That had to be a record for screwing up the quickest, right? Sarcastic congratulations to myself, why thank you myself.  
  
Okaaay, now what the fuck 're you doing with yer life Shinji. That wasn't what yer mind decided to do, was it? This definitely was far from rational or even pragmatic, right? Since when had ya become a heroic lives' savior? And a fuckin' martyr pathetic enough to save someone when ya can easily protect yerself?  
  
I glanced at the roof assessing how much damage would smashing my head against it bring versus how much I deserved it. Yet, it was already too late.  
  
Hiyori's eyes darted up and widened with an immediate frown, which gave a kinda comical effect. Weird sense of humor again, nevermind.  
  
I sighed with the whole power of my lungs and rolled my eyes. Okay, now I couldn't back down. I was screwed, I was fucked, I was gonna die in great pain 'n' torture several times in a row. Yaaay.  
  
\- Here- I reached for her, givin' her my hand in the act of absolute resignation. Pullin' her up the roof was the first and obvious thing to do.  
  
But then what?  
  
Everyone knew Shinigami, among all the cool stuff they were able to do, could also fly. A roof was nothin' of an obstacle. We had to...  
  
\- I'll kill ya, you know that- the sharp voice broke through my thinkin' processes, disturbing everything - You idiot.  
  
\- Shaddap, will ya? - I snapped quickly with an annoyed eyeroll- I'm kinda in the middle of savin' yer useless existence here.  
  
We had no time for ceremonies nor courtesy. Without even askin', I grabbed her, threw on my back and started runnin' through my well-known roof environment. - Lemme just postpone this nice chat 'bout killin' for a while, will ya?  
  
With a jump across clustered buildings, I turned around, acknowledging the Shinigami dude who just landed in a perfect, stable pose right behind us. Ugh, this motherfucker had too much of an advantage. We were so dead.  
  
\- We can't escape, baldy.  
  
\- How kind of ya to inform me, I had no fuckin' clue- I spit pure sarcasm, quickly scanning the map of the district in my mind - ...But we can hide - as mischief flashed in my shit-eating grin, I'd slowly realized that we actually... might have had a chance.  
  
If I just managed to take a jump long enough... I'd done it before, right? It WAS possible.  
  
\- Brace yerself- I tightened my grip on the small waist, slowly approachin' the end of the flat roof surface. Beyond which there was nothin' but... well, an abyss.  
  
\- WTF ARE YOU DOIN'???!!- a violent pull on the long hair brought tears to my eyes. With a wild shriek, I wiped them out at once.  
  
\- TRUST ME, I NEED TO FOCUUUS!!!- I yelped, pulling the sadistic little hands away from my precious hair with a free hand. - I'M JUMPING!  
  
\- HOW CAN I TRUST YA FUCKIN' LIAR, YOU CAN'T JUMP HERE, ARE YA KIDDIN' ME, WE'RE GONNA GET SMASHED IDIOTIDIOTIDIOOOT - a pull on the hair accompanied every "idiot" in a painfully regular rhythm while my voice was continuously expanding its range octaves up. Wow, some more and I'd have become a nice alto.  
  
If it wasn't for the quite restricted time.  
  
I bit hard on my lower lip trying to focus on another pain rather than the one piercing through my head. The taste of blood appeared as I took the leap, holdin' Hiyori as tight as I could.  
  
She had an even nicer alto than I did, I had to admit. An even higher vocal range of her LIMITLESS SCREAM DIFFUSING IN THE AIR ALL AROUND US.  
  
  
And then suddenly everything was over. We landed safely on the next roof, leaving the space between the two buildings behind.  
  
Hiyori's animalistic yelp came to an abrupt ending, replaced by a long, unsettlin' silence. Oh wow, I've managed to shut her up.  
  
I slid from the roof into the building through a masked hole, immediately finding my secret passage of this place. I used this warehouse for a hideout loads of times before. It was perfectly safe, with just one panel needed to be removed from the floor to reveal stairs to an underground cellar covered in gray dust and spiderwebs.  
  
\- Now don't ya dare talk or he'll find us - I whispered to Hiyori, puttin' her down, absolutely focused on returning the floor panel above us back to its place.  
  
\- You... you FLEW...- she whispered back, her eyes wide open, just as her mouth.  
  
\- Shaddap- I responded, not even turning around to her. More important things needed to be done.- Bullshit. I just have long jumps.  
  
She slowly shook her head as I finished masking the panel 'n' gave her a cold glare.  
  
\- It wasn't a JUMP, jumps can't be that long. Ya... have fuckin' flying abilities - she shook her head again, this time in the context of pure disbelief - Like a Shinigami...  
  
I rolled my eyes, ready to reply in the sassiest manner possible and prove her 100% wrong.  
  
Until I heard footsteps above our heads and my hand darted to cover her lips guided by survival instinct.


	4. A really stubborn pain in the ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _My hand rested, pressed firmly against Hiyori’s lips. She understood the atmosphere already, a silent uneasiness could be seen in her wide-opened eyes. Yet, I didn’t dare to move enough to remove the touch, as well as I didn’t dare do breathe, swallow or cough. All the pressing bodily functions had to wait; the acoustics of this place were far too strong and the slightest mistake meant nothin’ less than a certain death. One without the afterlife that people in the human world could hope for._

The sound of waraji sandals creakin’ against the wooden floor above our heads had something ominous in its context; a forever – elevating tension, fear of being discovered, heart beating fast and head trying to convince the organism to muffle the amplitude of the beat if it wishes to, for fuck’s sake, survive at least until the next dawn.

My hand rested, pressed firmly against Hiyori’s lips. She understood the atmosphere already, a silent uneasiness could be seen in her wide-opened eyes. Yet, I didn’t dare to move enough to remove the touch, as well as I didn’t dare do breathe, swallow or cough. All the pressing bodily functions had to wait; the acoustics of this place were far too strong and the slightest mistake meant nothin’ less than a certain death. One without the afterlife that people in the human world could hope for.

By the sole sonic it was a piece of cake to identify the position of our pursuer. He moves a few steps further, now he returns; he goes in circles, he stops; silence ensues; he shifts his weight to the other leg, turns around; after years of hiding from justice, my ear was well-trained in understanding the subtle messages, telling me what eyes couldn’t see. Please, please, let this guy be impatient, get tired, bored, whatever, make him go away, grant us some more of this shitty Rukon life, I liked it after all; I prayed in my head, to whom I could never tell; perhaps the Soul King, fortune or the doom itself; who cares anyways.

The Shinigami above the floor (aka our only shield) let out the excess air from his lungs in a deep sigh. Yes, I rejoiced, this was the sigh of discontent and defeat, yes, now he’ll decide it’s not worth it, leave us alone, as the expected line of events suggests…

Apparently, the guy had no idea about what the expected line of events was, since instead of turning around once again and fuckin’ finally leaving, he knelt and proceeded to examine the floor. To be precise, a part of the floor which came dangerously close to the one loose panel.

Hiyori’s face muscles tensed under my fingers as she pushed herself away from my hand. I didn’t object anymore. Now that the Shinigami diverted his attention to the floor there was no longer any use in keeping ourselves quiet; he would have found us whatever actions we might possibly take. I saw her moving up the stairs, her fists clenched, ready to fight for our lives. Well, perhaps that was a method… considering her strength she might at least be able to blackout the dude for a few seconds, this should give us some time to get away…

Mixed noises of breathing, fingers knocking on the wooden texture, hands attempting to lift the panels up and feet pressing to the floor in constantly altering places approached nearer. Hiyori’s frown, barely visible in the dark, deepened; I prepared myself for a run.

\- Where’s the third officer?

\- He was running somewhere here, I saw him, f-fukutaichiou…

\- That bloody idiot! We don’t have time for sightseeing, he’s slowing us down, we should a-l-r-e-a-d-y be back in Seireitei! Captain’s waiting!

The loud creak of the weight giving the fragile floor a rest was arguably the greatest blessing I have so far received in my highly disadvantaged lifetime. Another sigh was released by our pursuer and this time the line of events ran accordingly – the footsteps started moving away from our hideout, slowly vanishing and ultimately getting drowned in the loud conversation as the “third officer” attempted to communicate to the “fukutaichou” his story of two pain-in-the-ass Rukon brats, one of which was far too strong for her dimensions and the other one could for some reason fly. Perhaps we should get them, they should be somewhere in this shed, he suggested and my heart skipped a little, only calmed by the disbelieving laughter of his boss guy and his extremely caring suggestion for the third officer to go and have his brains examined.

Pheeew.

It was over. Only a few minutes later the voices faded completely, becoming just a memory to appear sometimes late at night in extremely tiring nightmares.

I relaxed my tensed body and consequently collapsed directly on my fabulous ass, releasing a long noise of pure relief.

\- Blessed be the Soul King almighty, preserver of all life, of body and soul, the highest light of Soul Society and the three worlds – the first thing to utilize my annoying voice for had to be of course high-quality sarcasm. I’ve kept my chatterbox yapper shut for too long. Poor innocent Hiyori, now she’ll to deal with a number of bad puns and irony increased by 80% on average. Well, assuming she won’t end me in the following few seconds.

She opened her clenched fists slowly, blinking in disbelief at our sudden strike of luck. Oh, apparently she hadn’t experienced that many positive turnouts of events before. Myself, I was quite used to close escapes; the destiny had to like my wide grin or something, otherwise, I’d have been long dead, I was fairly convinced.

After a few seconds of silence, I proceeded to roll my eyes and approach a little nearer. Her hip was still bleedin’ af; jeez, how come she was even able to still function normally after loosin’ THIS amount of blood? Welp, must be a female thing, bein’ used to gallons of blood flowin’ outta ya monthly, heh. I assumed that the Shinigami must have cut her in the first impulse after receivin’ a punch rocket, snobby motherfucker. I snorted a little, imaginin’ how beautifully flat his aristocratic face must’ve looked right after the impact. Oh my, wish I’d seen it.

\- Ya lost yer voice or what? – I teased her even more, grinnin’ like crazy.

This time the response was rapid and consisted of the same component I’ve just found so funny to think about. Except, the punch somehow wasn’t that amusing anymore when it flattened my face.

\- WHAT WERE YOU THINKIN’, DICKHEAD?- I received an utterly sophisticated honorific as I smashed against the dusty wall and got tangled in spider webs with enough blood pumping through my nose to become a fuckin’ donor. – JUST POPPIN’ UP ‘N’ SHOWIN’ YERSELF TO ME? YA HAVE NO COMMON SENSE OR D’YA DON’T RESPECT MY THREAT AT ALL, HUH?

Wow. That was surprisingly not chill for someone who had just had a near-death experience.

\- Missed ya, sweetheart – I gave her a deadpan, ironic look, attempting to wiggle my ass out of the dust ‘n’ webs – How ‘bout a ‘thank ya, my handsome life-savior’?

When close to Hiyori, it was impossible not to believe in karma. It struck real quick. And real hard, sometimes with a foot, sometimes with a fist. Oughh, but seriously, it’d be amazing if this wall was just a liiitle softer.

\- NO WAY, FUCKIN’ THIEF! I MIGHT LET YA LIVE FOR THIS, BUT THAT’S ALL! BESIDES, WHAT WAS IT WITH THIS FREAKY FLYIN’, HUH? YA FREAK!

Eyyyy, scoooreee, I smiled to myself. Shinji’s gonna hang around some more before someone finally shuts ‘im up foreva, suck it bitcheeees.

\- It was my pleasure, darlin’ damsel in distress – I chuckled – Told ya, long jumps, years of experience. Now, will ya let me do somethin’ ‘bout this wound, I’m no doctor but…

\- WHY? – she interrupted me, moving a few steps to the back, suspicion flashin’ in her brownish eyes – Why d’ya wanna help me? Some kinda trick again, right?

Well, there we go. Hiyori just expressed aloud every question bouncin’ under my skull, for which I found myself surprisingly devoid of all possible answers.

Why did I want to stick around her after all? Why did I risk my valuable persona entity for this lil’ brat? Who and when have stolen my rationality? The point was, I had no fuckin’ idea. It just seemed, like, the right path to follow.

\- Dunno, an idiotic whim or somethin’ – I shrugged finally, still tastin’ the blood flowin’ outta my nose get past my lips ‘n’ drip down in drops irregular like my life patterns. – Don’t ask me, I still wanna kill myself for doin’ this, I dunno nothin’, it’s just my intuition, ‘kay? – my perfect physiognomy shifted to an absolutely intentional ugly face, as I stuck out my tongue ‘n’ stretched my cheeks with fingers. Aaaah, bein’ annoyin’ is addictive, don’t try this shit at home, kiddos.

\- Ya know I don’t trust ya- she rather stated than asked, her eyes narrowing in hostility, voice changin’ to much more gravelly than before – Get da fuck outta my personal space.

\- What?

\- I said I don’t wanna see ya again – her head turned away from me and I could feel a silent regret feelin’ the cellar. Well, apparently regret smelled like dust ‘n’ tasted like blood.

Okay, now she’d surprised me. Whatever I could’ve expected – beatin’, my legs bein’ ripped off, my balls havin’ an unhealthy color for several weeks, my head bein’ stuck on the nearest fence as a warning to other traitors – didn’t include her just tellin’ me to fuck off. Eventually, every scenario contained her ‘n’ my role performed…together. Even if it was to result in a bloody gore, pleonasm intended.

A weak “huh?” was the only opinion I was able to express for the first few seconds. I…wasn’t used to astonishment, I always somehow found myself on the opposite team – the one always unpredictable, never unpredicting.

\- What the fuck, Hiyori? – in the end, I cleared my throat and was able to communicate myself in a slightly more creative ‘n’ Shinji-like way. Except for the first time since our lives were miraculously saved by the “fukutaichou” and his stick in the ass, my tone wasn’t playful anymore – I’m takin’ a fuckin’ hazard, deliverin’ ya from the doom ya put upon yerself ‘n’ ya tellin’ me to just…

\- Don’t wanna have to beware all the time – she snarled, not even lettin’ my train of thought to reach its scheduled destination. The loose panel cracked, definitely surpassin’ the average amount of decibels, as she punched through it ‘n’ started crawlin’ outta the cellar.

Tsk.

I gritted my teeth in total frustration.

\- Well, I’m NOT gonna trick ya, so you WOULDN’T have to beware – I went after her, closin’ the hideout after myself and findin’ myself consequently talkin’ to her back as she proceeded to just leave, still limpin’ ‘n’ staggerin’. This wound of hers must have been quite a serious thing…

\- Don’t trust ya, fraud.

\- It’s not like you have somethin’ USEFUL to take anyways…

\- Fuck off.

Okay, it’s official, I’d never been that vexed before. I could actually understand her standpoint without trouble. Yeah, I tricked her. Yeah, I deliberately gained her trust just to throw it right into a garbage dump. I did it without batting an eye, casually, with none visible signs pointin’ to my coming soon betrayal. I’ve done a good work establishing myself this kind of opinion in her view.

It was plain obvious that she was doin’ the right thing erasing me now.

And this was, to be honest, the most hurtful part about all this shitty situation.

Perhaps I should’ve stopped followin’ her. Perhaps I should’ve respected her decision. Perhaps this would’ve preserve the miserable remains of my honor, perhaps I would’ve still been able to get the memory of her outta my system…

Still, what I did was exactly the opposite. Guess you could say that doin’ stuff in reverse was my specialty back then too, hah. And what definitely never _was_ my kind of behavior was backin’ down.

\- Yer wrong if ya think ya can get away from me that easy – I hissed, keepin’ the distance between us two-steps-long no matter how fast she walked – I can be a real patient pain in the ass, ya know…

I got hit, flew a few meters back, spat out some blood, immediately got up and… resumed the stalking.

\- A real stubborn pain in the ass too~

This time my stomach received the blow ‘n’ I almost choked on my own gagging.

\- No…matter what you do – I panted as soon as I was able to speak again, hangin’ heavy behind her.

\- I promised ya not to kill ya, don’t make me change my mind- a hostile growl was the only answer to my ultimate sacrifice – Fuck off, what reason ya have for fuckin’ ‘round with me, what have I done to you – her voice was crackin’ dangerously. Anyone else would have start runnin’ away already. But my name was Hirako Shinji.

\- I just wanna – I doubted just for a moment before I carried on to teasingly imitate her voice, repeatin’ the words she told me the first day we met… - Ya can be useful for me as well. Ya know, life on street is quite dangerous. And yer good at fighting…

She turned around and I was beyond content to see that her face wasn’t actually as pissed off as I imagined it to be. I felt scanned throughout by her piercin’ eyes, standin’ still and feelin’ utterly uncomfortable under the gaze.

And then I was left with seeing only her back again.

\- Fuckin’ thief – she grumbled and made her way forward, despite almost fallin’ off her feet. Boy, this was some serious determination for independence. – I need to find some clean water to get this wound washed. And ya better wash yer face, it’s a bloody mess.

I grinned widely and shambled on, this time much more relaxed.

\- How ‘bout I carry ya? Y’know, yer probably gonna faint soon.

Her tone did, after all, point to some brighter side of the future for our criminal partnership. Maybe… just maybe, I was still able to regain her trust.

We’ll work on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear more opinions of people reading this! English isn't my first language, so I'm always quite anxious writing. If anyone wishes to review, just do it ^^  
> xoxo


	5. Teamwork and distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Months were passin’, and just as she said, I wasn’t getting’ any closer to get her to trust me again. She refused to sleep before she was certain I was well asleep and snoring, she kept hidin’ her share of our daily loot where I couldn’t find it. She called me a thief, liar and traitor almost as often as she yelled at me this weird “baldy” nickname. To be honest, it was gettin’ kinda tiring, and seeing all these suspicions, I sometimes almost felt the urge to confirm them. To betray her again. If she thought I was so bad anyways, what was the point in proving otherwise, right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy <3 Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, hits and kudos, you guys are the best <3 Hope I won't disappoint xoxo

The extremely polluted water from the provisional street gutters plus some self-produced saliva was the only available source of disinfection, a few ripped clothing stripes were the only bandages. Yup, health care in Rukongai was never its best merit, resulting in a simple natural selection between the inhabitants, which just helped not to worry about infections or hygiene.

Ya either got immune to all the available diseases or ya got, well, dead. Fifty-fifty.

With this optimistic thought on my mind, I helped Hiyori take care of her wound, despite being punched multiple times in the process, both in the physical and linguistic sense.

\- Whattya think, get yer perverted hands of me, stupid baldy, I can do it myself!

\- I’m tryin’ to help ya, ya can’t reach the bandage on yer back!

\- Don’t ya friggin’ underestimate me!

\- …told ya, ya need my help, clear as day.

\- Ya makin’ a death wish?!

I threw my head inside the bucket with some water we managed to collect, pulling it out just in time not to drown and shook it. The liquid splashed around, now red from mixing with my blood. Shit, I have made a terrible mistake, a realization came to me at once. Contact with water was a freezing experience in this temperature. Maybe that’s why Hiyori was being so mean, after all, she had her leg stuck in water to clear the wound for quite a while… Nah, she was always mean as fuck. Nothing new in the world.

\- Ya still look like bloody mess, now yer hair’s in blood too, wash it properly – she grunted at me, her cold glare piercing through me more than this shitty water.

\- Sure, m’lady – I lowered myself to an ironic bow, ‘f course immediately bein’ lowered much more by the inescapable foot of doom. Hello, ground, my old friend~

\- Ya – stomp - fuckin’ – stomp, auuugh- asking – stomp- for a beating – stomp stop stomp, my poor ol’ back ain’t gonna survive this.

\- Could you please noooot? – I moaned in-between the quick yelps.

\- You’d wish, gotta teach ya a lesson, flat-face.

\- MY FACE ISN’T FLAT!

\- Sure it is.

The salvation from my hopeless position came in the most unexpected way. I felt something hard hit my head. Then my elbow. And my nose. No, wait, the last one was just Hiyori’s foot.

She must have felt it too, as she looked up to the sky and grumbled. Without even asking for consent or something, she grabbed me by the leg and pulled towards the nearest roof-like structure.

\- Hey, I can walk! – I protested, feeling all sharp things ever stuck in the ground make deep scratches on my back.

\- No time to wait until ya move yer stupid ass, if ya haven’t noticed, it’s hailing as fuck – despite her words, she let go of my leg and I immediately got up, absolutely covered in blood, bruises and, most of all, dust. We hid under the roof and she scanned me with a critical gaze.

\- Ya look terrible.

\- I wonder why~ - I snapped, leaning against the wall and rolling my eyes. The roof was crackling dangerously, hail lumps continuously striking it, and it smelled like someone has died there recently. – We can’t stay there. It’s gonna burst in no time.

\- I’m not goin’ out. Those lumps fuckin’ hurt, and unlike some people, I do care if something hits me– she grunted, crossing her arms with an utter contempt painted on her dirty face. Meanwhile, a single plank managed to escape the arguably organized system of the roof and fell with a nice “boom!” just a tiptoe distance from Hiyori’s head. Hah, the universe is confirming my cause once again, score, thanks universe.

\- Something’s gonna hit ya there if ya don’t get away. Go. – I grabbed the plank and pushed her outside, keepin’ it over her head. – Don’t worry, the handsome plank warrior is gonna protect yer delicate bodily form, m’lady.

She glared at me with two death rays that happened to be her eyes, but hesitated to strike again. Perhaps because the plank was really succeeding at keepin’ her head safe from the hail lumps. I couldn’t say the same about my poor skull though. Ouch, ouch, ouch, oooh, another roof!

\- We can hide over there, m’lady, it looks safer – I pointed to it, and soon pushed her underneath, gettin’ there myself as well with a sigh of relief. She already curled inside, closin’ her legs in arms and she was examining me with a critical stare as I threw myself on the ground and loudly announced that I’m so ready for some sleep that I can’t even.

\- Ya know I’m not gonna trust ya again if ya suddenly seem nice ‘n’ helpful, right? – she muttered, still making me shiver under the piercing glare.

I sighed in utter irritation.

\- I’m not only nice if I want something, I might seem like that, but I’m certainly not, clear? – I rolled on the other side, showing her my back. – Now, don’t disturb. I’m really gonna sleep.

I could almost feel her skepticism crawling on my back when she growled a highly antagonistic “fine”. And as a result, despite having my eyes closed and seemin’ to sleep like a baby, I couldn’t even get a nap, thoughts racing through my head until the hail was over.

 

***

 

Months were passin’, and just as she said, I wasn’t getting’ any closer to get her to trust me again. She refused to sleep before she was certain I was well asleep and snoring, she kept hidin’ her share of our daily loot where I couldn’t find it. She called me a thief, liar, and traitor almost as often as she yelled at me this weird “baldy” nickname. To be honest, it was gettin’ kinda tiring, and seeing all these suspicions, I sometimes almost felt the urge to confirm them. To betray her again. If she thought I was so bad anyways, what was the point in proving otherwise, right?

But days followed days and I never lied to her again. I just…didn’t want to feel the loss I experienced after leaving her for the first time anymore. It was uncomfortable, why repeat that? Who cared what the reasons for those weird emotions were…

\- Hey, dumbass! Stop makin’ this dumb face like yer pretendin’ ya can think, and help me with that bag!

Aaa-ha. There it was, the inevitable grounding. I shrugged and rolled my eyes, obviously displaying an absolute will to do what she asked for.

\- Yer the strong one, ya can manage, I’m tireeeed~

\- From what? Pretendin’ to be that guy’s nephew so that we can steal his stuff? Shaddap, dumbass, and take the bag, we have three of them ‘n’ I have two hands, deduce the rest.

\- Ya have no idea how drainin’ it can be… - I moaned, throwing the smallest of the bags on my shoulders. – I think we’re becoming kinda popular, Hiyori. That guy knew something about a liar ‘n’ a kickass girl being in the district…

\- Whattya think, I think we’ve stripped half of the district of somethin’ already.

I scanned her and myself briefly. Yes, of course. Our life level improved visibly since we started workin’ together. We had clothes without any tears, looked quite clean and nourished. I even got myself a hairbrush so my long hair finally wasn’t a single blond tangle but looked quite nicely; she managed to gain a pair of flip flops, which was an amazing achievement in a district where most of the inhabitants have never possessed shoes in their whole lives.

\- I’m just sayin’ that soon everyone may become alert ‘n’ cons ‘ll no longer work…

\- That’s yer problem. I’m doin’ the physical part. Besides, we already have enough stuff to survive even without yer questionable talents.

\- Ya sayin’ I’m useless?!

\- ‘f course, traitor.

I sighed heavily, rubbing my neck with a free hand. Okay, enough. I couldn’t keep myself nice, silent ‘n’ smiling anymore when she didn’t seem to get any better after such a long time. I definitely had enough of gettin’ called for crimes that were long past…

Time to act.

\- Listen, Miss Mean. – with a melodramatic gesture, I threw the heavy, rattling bag on the ground and sat on it, crossing my arms ‘n’ lookin’ away. – I know ya were super disappointed when I made a fool of ya. I know that ya can’t trust me now, and I don’t even ask for that. But for fuck’s sake, we’re on the same boat. So if ya could stop pissin’ me off returning to that topic ‘n’ makin’ biting remarks, I’d appreciate. Don’t trust me all ya want, but silently, will ya? – I got a spectacular hump.

She scowled and stared at me for a few moments. Long enough to make it very hard for me to remain serious.

\- Fine – she finally said, as reluctantly as ever. – Just don’t forget it. Or ya’ll do it again. Ya don’t seem like a person who learns from mistakes. And I'm still mad at ya.

\- But I HAVE learnt – I growled, twistin’ my pretty face to an even more offended expression, but she already turned away from me, seemingly believin’ the conversation was done. Biting my lip angrily, I stood up ‘n’ took the bag again.

Only to immediately receive a flip-flop strike and flyyyyy towards a close reunion with the ground.

\- And don’t throw our bags like that, show some respect, what if something got broken, idiot – in spite of what she was sayin’, she smiled slightly, and I could read some kind of forgiveness in that smile. To what extent though? Only Soul King knows. Probably very low, though. Like, one percent or so.

And while I was followin’ her, carryin’ the bag surprisingly heavy for its size, a lonely figure appeared in the distance and started gettin’ bigger ‘n’ bigger as we got closer. Soon, I could recognize the clothin’. And the drawn katana.

Right there, seemingly waitin’ for us, stood a Shinigami.


	6. We're gonna die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Another silhouette appeared on the horizon, now in front of us, and I immediately switched the way to run into a sideway alley. I glanced behind, just to see that we had now two followers. So popular, oh my. Nope, I didn’t care how many of them there were. There could be millions, and I could still run awa-_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy and review! xoxo

\- Ya see what I see?- I stopped at the spot, blocking the way forward for Hiyori with my arm as well. Awesome. A Shinigami. As if my life wasn’t problematic enough. What the fuck were they doing there? ‘f course they could’ve just visited, but why was this one separated from the group and came to this part of the district? It made no sense…

\- I’m not blind, ya bald idiot – she pushed my hand away, staying in place – What are they doing here?

\- Do I look like a fuckin’ clairvoyant to ya? – I did an overly dramatic eyeroll.

\- Dunno, I’m not the one with fuckin’ Shinigami powers.

\- I’m telling ya since months I have literally none of the fuckin’ Shinigami powers, just long, sexy legs with the ability to do long, sexy jumps, which part of this didn’t ya understand?

\- Well, I’m telling ya since months this is fuckin’ impossible.

The Shinigami probably noticed we weren’t getting any closer for a while and started approaching us himself, at once shutting down a fun argument. This overwhelming cruelty, just to murder good shitstorm prompts like that~. We both froze, glancing at each other and nodding our heads.

\- Jump on, we’ll run – I clenched my teeth and grabbed her elbow, reacting almost automatically with a step to the back. She didn’t even object, perhaps she also felt the survival instincts kicking in hard. Her weight bent me a little more than usual to the ground as I turned on the turbo speed of the experienced runaway.

\- Why the heck they’re searchin’ for us now? It was months ago! – she yelled right into my ear through the howling wind.

\- I have no idea! – I panted, gazing back to make sure we were being followed. The Shinigami was faaar too close for safety, he seemed fast as fuck…faster, faster, just to run faster, I’ll catch my breath later….

Another silhouette appeared on the horizon, now in front of us, and I immediately switched the way to run into a sideway alley. I glanced behind, just to see that we had now two followers. So popular, oh my. Nope, I didn’t care how many of them there were. There could be millions, and I could still run awa-

All of a sudden, I felt the sharp, cold metal piercing one of my feet and with a quick shriek, I fell on the ground. With Hiyori cursing like crazy in the background, my blurred vision registered her falling as well, just before the image was replaced by another Shinigami towering over us. Shit, so they had one in this alley as well… We were surrounded from the beginning…

I rushed to get up and away, but a few weird words from the Shinigami were enough to tie me up. Before hitting the ground, undoubtedly scratching my knees and injuring my temple, I quickly assessed the situation of Hiyori. She was also unable to move, even though there was nothing visible on her wrists and ankles joined together. Well. So this was how these famous abilities looked like from a closer distance… I won’t lie, scary af.

I lied on my back, absolutely helpless, just clenching my teeth angrily and attempting to break the bond. More faces were coming into my vision, as the rest of the Shinigami which have been chasing us, slowly gathered around.

\- What d’ ya want from us?! – I cried out, feeling cold sweat drippin’ of my forehead from all the effort to break away. – She just hit one of ya several months ago! Yer overreactin’, let us gooo!

I was usually always able to talk my way out of anything. But apparently, that time wasn’t my lucky day. My mouth was soon sealed by another series of incantations, with one of the Shinigami, a tall, dark-haired, annoyingly clean and well-kept person, examining me closely.

\- No shouting – he remarked, wrinkling his nose and turning away from me with disgust. Hah, rich boy, don’t like the dirty looks of Rukongai people? Ya could have fuckin’ helped us and not pretend to be a higher race… - Take them. Tell these people we caught the thieves.

Caught the thieves? So that was the point… Were they just performing “justice”? No, that didn’t make sense. Shinigami were never bothering with justice in this district…

Before I could even process this sudden information clearly, I heard Hiyori scream from behind me. I wasn’t able to see what was happening, but the fast footsteps gettin’ away and the reactions of the whole gathering have soon told me everything.

\- What… How… She broke loose! Catch her! Quick!

It didn’t take long before I saw them bringing her tied up again, and throwing her on the ground close to me. Well, maybe she was stronger, but she definitely was never as fast as me. Her eyes were burning with pure fury but, just like me, she was now unable to do anything else…

\- As I said. Go notify the people. We will take care of them.

I glanced utterly confused at the person picking me up like a bag of potatoes but received nothing more than absolute ignorance. Yeah, I need answers and they’re just gaggin’ me like that. Great strategy. Almost as good as what they always did in regards to the problems of Rukongai. After all, they silenced them exactly just like they now silenced me.

My foot was still pulsing with a piercing pain, I was almost blacking out from pain every now and then, and I spent the whole uncomfortable trip hardly conscious of the surroundings and sounds. I just hoped they weren’t going to kill us… This…this just couldn’t end up like this. I liked life and…well, I didn’t ask for much just wishing for my eventual death to at least OCCUR IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MADE SENSE. Well, anyways, if they meant to kill us, they wouldn’t carry us all this way… But who knows. After all, I could never understand those privileged assholes from what I heard about them. I guess just because they had too much of an easy life, they really enjoyed complicating it. Perhaps they had some kind of odd reasons for getting us executed somewhere else than on spot…

Ugh, whatever. It was still a miracle I survived that long. It was a miracle I escaped slavery, it was hardly possible to get such a nice life in this district as I did. Was I already having flashbacks from my whole life from its beginning? Pretty quick.

It got a little darker and colder as we seemingly entered some kind of a building. I tried to look around, already kinda used to the pain in the foot, but yeah, ‘f course they bonded me too hard to even turn my head. Because I’d have surely been able to run away if they left my head free to move, yeah. Logic was another quality that apparently didn’t exist for the Sereitei people.

My internal rant was disturbed as I was put…or rather ruthlessly shoved on the stone cold ground and heard a clickin’ sound of the cell bein’ closed, mixing together with receding footsteps. Suddenly I was able to move again and I used the ability at once, findin’ Hiyori lying nearby ‘n’ massaging her wrists with the maddest face I had seen since the last time I betrayed her.

\- Ya fine?

\- No – she growled, hitting on the ground with both fists – Fuckin’ Shinigami. Ya think they’re gonna kill us?

\- I have no idea – I shrugged, casually checking if I can get us out in any way, but rather quickly givin’ up to sit on the slimy stone floor in front of her. Ugh, it smelt like death everywhere… - Probably. They said something about catchin’ the thieves. Maybe for once they wanted to introduce some justice to Rukongai. We just had bad luck.

She pounded her fists once again, this time on my scrawny thighs, tears of helpless rage appearin’ in her brownish eyes.

\- How can ya be that calm? They just had an stupid whim ‘n’ now we’re gonna die, we…we’re gonna DIE Shinji, I don’t…I don’t want to…

Something twitched weirdly in my chest. Shit, she wasn’t supposed to react like that…I had no idea how to deal with emotions, I was confused myself, I was the worst choice for a comfort buddy ever, shit, error, error…

Instinctively, I closed the distance between us and gave her an awkward hug with a pat on the back. Nghh, that was weird… It felt…really strange. After all, I…wasn’t used to hugging people. I wasn’t used to having someone to hug…

\- Hey. Calm down. We can do nothing about that. Maybe they won’t kill us, but if they will, at least we can have some fun now instead of worrying, ya know? Just, ya know, spend the last moments nicely.

She set her watery eyes on me and the expected punch didn’t come. Woah. She was so different in the face of danger… So much more…fragile?

\- What d’ya suggest?

\- Let’s talk, shall we? – I stretched out, smiling slightly – Wanna hear a story?

Her lips curled up at the promise of distraction and she leaned against the wall, still not relaxing, but at least containing her rage a little.

\- Sure, baldy. Nothin’ else to do.


End file.
